In Roanne, in the Loire, the father who violently beat up the young man suspected of having sexually assaulted his six-year-old daughter will be tried before the criminal court. He risks jail time.
[Mis à jour le 28 octobre 2022 à 12h18] According to information from BFM-TV published this Friday, October 28, 2022, four people will be tried before the Roanne Criminal Court in the case of violence committed against a teenager, suspected of having sexually assaulted a 6-year-old girl. The public prosecutor of Roanne had decided to self-seize to open an investigation for “aggravated violence in meetings and with the use of a weapon”. The young Guinean suspected of sexual assault on a minor under the age of 15, denying the facts, had also decided to file a complaint, announced his lawyer, Me Camille Thinon. Summoned before the criminal court on January 24 at 1 p.m., the father of the family and his three accomplices theoretically risk between five to ten years in prison, in a legal file which promises to be complex.
The judges will also take into account that the four people who assaulted the suspect already have criminal records. The father of the family had been sentenced to prison for the robbery of a tobacco bar in Roanne in 2014. He had also been prosecuted for acts of theft, driving under the substance, refusal to comply but also violence in meetings . The lawyer for the father of the family, Me Canis, defended him on BFM-TV indicating that his client has “changed, evolved, the man of today has nothing to do with that of yesterday, adding that “the reaction of a father has nothing to do with the teenager, the young adult that he could have been” pleaded the lawyer.
Questioned on October 25 on BFM-TV the father of the family, Aniss, had declared that he did not regret having done justice himself: “I could take 30 years, it does not matter, it is for my daughter” he justified at the microphone of chain. Comment toned down this Friday, October 28 by the lawyer on the same continuous news channel, “it is obvious that he has a lot of regrets and remorse for the attitude that was his” he said. indicated when speaking of his client. Also adding that his client has been prosecuted but is not indicted.
What happened in the Roanne affair?
A teenager is accused of breaking into the girl’s home on October 20 and sexually assaulting her. Quickly, the father and friends organized rounds in the neighborhood before seeing, on October 21, a teenager trying to climb the fence of his property. The mother of the family who had come face to face with the aggressor in the little girl’s room during the supposed attack, would have immediately recognized him and confirmed his identity. From then on, the father of the family admitted to having “freaked a cable” adding to having gone “crazy” at the microphone of RMC. There followed acts of great violence against the 16-year-old young man. Accompanied by friends and neighbours, they violently beat him repeatedly, using punches and kicks. The teenager would also have been whipped with an electric cable, causing a total of 10 days of total interruption of work (ITT), according to the prosecution. The suspect of the sexual assault, who was brutalized, is an isolated minor who had lived for a fortnight in the same neighborhood as the family.
Part of the political class also reacted on BFMTV. Éric Ciotti, deputy Les Républicains des Alpes-Maritimes, supported the father of a family: “Who can condemn the reaction of this father of a family? Who can measure his fear, his pain? He should not protect his daughter, try Won’t it happen again?” he asked.
What is the father of the family risking?
The sentences of the father of the family and the three accomplices who beat up the young suspect can vary according to several criteria. In principle, article L222-11 of the Criminal Code provides that “violence resulting in total incapacity for work for more than eight days is punishable by three years’ imprisonment and a fine of 45,000 euros.” This penalty may be heavier in the event of aggravating circumstances listed in Article L222-12 of the Criminal Code, in particular violence committed in a group, premeditation, the use of a weapon. In this case, these aggravating circumstances are present during the attack on the suspect. The father of the family gathered friends and neighbors to violently beat the suspect, and used a “weapon”, namely an electric cable with which he was “whipped” according to the lawyer for the 16-year-old minor.
This vendetta having resulted in more than eight days of total interruption of work (ITT), a sentence of 5 years in prison and a fine of 75,000 euros is incurred. If two aggravating circumstances are met, the penalty will be increased to 7 years in prison and a fine of 100,000 euros. If three aggravated elements are demonstrated by the lawyer of the minor accused of sexual assault on a minor, then the father can see his sentence increased to 10 years in prison and a fine of 150,000 euros.
Although the concept of mitigating circumstances disappeared from the Penal Code in 1992, judges continue to take into account the events surrounding the offense when setting the sentence. In view of the case, namely the sexual assault of his six-year-old daughter, the judge will be free to set the sentence with regard to the defense of the father of the family. The penalties cited above are only a maximum threshold.
An expeditious justice that does not pass for the public prosecutor
A behavior deplored by the public prosecutor of Roanne, Abdelkrim Grini: “We cannot accept that such acts are committed, even if this young man would have committed the acts for which he was arrested and indicted, that does not justify and it does not legitimize the violence”. “Even if I can understand the father’s reaction, I do not condone it. The violence was extremely serious. The young man was beaten up. They squared his head!” regretted the prosecutor.